Hartman: Gophers' Kill is underpaid and underappreciated

While Jerry Kill will likely remain with the Gophers next season after posting an 8-4 record, I'm sure he got some calls to find out if he was ready to move on from the program. There is no doubt in my mind that if he has another good season and a football practice facility is not a reality, there's a good chance he would accept another position.

When Kill took the Gophers coaching job in 2010 — Saturday was the four-year anniversary of his hiring — he inherited a really bad situation when it came to his roster. The number of players academically ineligible was unbelievable.

Joel Maturi, the former Gophers athletic director, was getting turned down by every top coach he approached, including Brady Hoke, the recently fired Michigan coach. The Gophers got lucky in Northern Illinois' Kill being available. And after he had been on the job for a while, there was some doubt in his mind whether he should have taken it because of the problems he faced in turning the program around.

The fact that he has turned the program around in four seasons is something that other candidates would never have accomplished.

Kill is being paid an average of $2.3 million a year on his current salary and is one of the lowest-paid coaches in the country at a major program.

For example, look at Iowa's Kirk Ferentz. He signed a 10-year contract in 2010 extension that paid him approximately $4 million this season. If he were to stay on through the end of his contract in 2020, he is due an additional $21 million.

The bonuses that Kill will receive this year will be $50,000 for being named Big Ten Coach of the Year, and another $50,000 for reaching five Big Ten victories. Those are minimal compared to what other coaches, such as Urban Meyer at Ohio State, earn for similar accomplishments. Kill will also earn $50,000 for taking the Gophers to a bowl game, and he could earn another $50,000 if the team beats an opponent from the ACC, SEC, Big 12 or Pacific-12 in that bowl game.

Memo to University President Eric Kaler and athletic director Norwood Teague: I've been covering the university for 70 years. Any time a football vacancy developed, it has been impossible to hire top coaches. You've got one now. You better do everything you can to keep him because you'll never replace a man like Jerry Kill, who not only is a great football coach but a great asset to the University of Minnesota in many, many ways. And most important: He recruits football players with good academic backgrounds who graduate, something that hasn't happened like this before.

The Vikings are sitting at 5-7, but there is a very slight chance that if they can win their final four games and finish 9-7, they could pull a miracle and win the final wild-card spot in the NFC.

Just getting in the conversation would be a tremendous accomplishment for first-year coach Mike Zimmer, who has dealt with more issues and injuries than any coach in the league.

It would take the greatest miracle in Vikings history, but there's no question that if they can win out, they will have a chance to get in the mix for that final playoff spot in what has been a truly difficult season. They have a great chance to win their final home games with the Jets on Sunday and the Bears in the season finale, but their two road games in between at Detroit and Miami will be tough, tough tests.

If the Vikings were to win those games, they would finish 9-7 with a 7-5 conference record, which is the first wild-card tiebreaker after head-to-head.

Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was asked about the team's chances of reaching the playoffs.

"I don't know," Robison said. "I think the likelihood of 9-7 getting in is probably not very well with the way some of the teams are playing, but my mind is legitimately just on the task at hand, which this week will be the New York Jets.

"We'll just play it game-by-game, and if at the end we're in the mix, we're in the mix. If not, it doesn't matter. To me, I'm worried about the New York Jets this week, and if we get to that point where we're in the mix, then hopefully we're in."

• The word is that the University of Minnesota has raised between $60 and $70 million of the $190 million goal for athletic facilities upgrades.

• Kevin Love is the third option on the Cavaliers behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and his stats are showing that. Love is averaging 17.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 35.9 minutes per game, his lowest numbers since 2009-2010, his second year with the Timberwolves. In 36.3 minutes per game last season, he averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

• Gophers football recruit Shannon Brooks, a 5-10, 198-pound running back from Jasper, Ga., was named Georgia's Class 4A, Region 7 player of the year. Brooks rushed for 2,223 yards and 32 touchdowns to lead Pickens High School to a playoff berth.

• The Washington Post named Kevin Dorsey, the Gophers men's basketball team's top recruit for 2015, to its preseason All-Met first team. He is playing at Clinton Christian in Upper Marlboro, Md., after transferring from Paul VI Catholic in Fairfax, Va.

• Former Gophers coach Tubby Smith, after having a chance to recruit some players at Texas Tech, has the Red Raiders at 5-1 to start the season, their lone loss coming in overtime to Louisiana State, which also just beat No. 16 West Virginia.